Thursday, September 23, 2010

Creamy Black-eyed Pea Salad

With summer on the wane, we made one of our favorite things: SLOW-roasted pork shoulder. Only this time we also smoked it for an hour on the grill. We followed the procedure outlined in Food & Wine magazine's August issue, adjusting for a smaller, 3 to 4 pound roast. With this vinegary homemade BBQ sauce, it was utterly divine.

For the sides, I ended up making 2 more recipes from that same F&W issue. If you've got a copy that you haven't had the chance to look over thoroughly, go grab it! It's devoted to new Southern cooking, and it's one of the best issues they've done in ages. There are tons of recipes I can actually see myself making, and it's evident that they are consciously trying to provide a lot of healthy options that are just as tempting as any of their other recipes.

This black-eyed pea salad, for instance, is a more nutritious stand-in for obvious barbecue sides like baked beans, potato salad or pasta salad. It has that creamy dressing you might be craving, but all it takes is a small amount of lowfat mayo to achieve. I made some changes to streamline the recipe a bit, while also increasing the quantity. I knew we would enjoy the leftovers.

Creamy Black-eyed Pea Salad
Adapted from this recipe in Food & Wine, August 2010If you hate mayo, I think you could replace it nicely with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. If you have fresh herbs on hand, fold those in at the end.

Place black-eyed peas in a large pot and add water to cover by about 4 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook at a steady simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and red pepper, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add carrots and thyme; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, combine black-eyed peas, onion mixture, celery and vinegar. Fold in mayonnaise, scallions and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

3 comments:

I just made the okra from the same article as the black eyed peas (which I'm making this wknd!) -- sooooo utterly delicious. Here's the review: http://www.freckledcitizen.com/2010/09/ooh-la-la-okra.html

Julie O'Hara Chicago, IL

Welcome! I'm a freelance recipe developer and writer for magazines like Shape, Clean Eating and National Geographic Traveler. View my work at julieoharawriter.com. I love your emails and comments--thanks for reading!